Heat exchange device

ABSTRACT

A heat exchanger for a product fluid comprises a rotor and a shell, one of which rotates. The rotor comprises a hollow shaft and hollow disk-like members attached to and communicating with the shaft which members and shaft form a tortuous conduit for a heat transfer fluid. The hollow disk-like members are not flat but have their central openings which attach to the shaft displaced above their distal edges. Similarly shaped disk-like partitions attached to the shell by support means and interleaved with the hollow disk-like members form together with the shell, rotor shaft, and hollow disk-like members a second tortuous conduit for a product fluid which product fluid is separated from the heat transfer fluid by the heat conductive walls of the rotor shaft and hollow disk-like members. The heat exchanger is particularly useful for conducting a reaction of a high viscosity liquid under closely controlled temperature conditions and continuous agitation.

United States; Patent Boon [451 Mar. 21, 1972 154 HEAT EXCHANGE DEVICE211 Appl. No.: 31,467

[52] US. Cl ..165/88, 165/93, 259/3 [5|] Int. Cl ..F28d 11/00 [58] Field01 Search 165/87-93; 159/6 [56] References Clted UNITED STATES PATENTS1,166,139 12/1915 Marwedel ..l65/92 3,430,690 3/1969 Sciaux ..l59/6XFOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 256,037 5/1963 Australia ..I65/92936,059 9/1963 Great Britain ..l65/90- Primary Examiner-Frederick L.Matteson Assistant Examiner-Theophil W. Streule Attorney-John L. Young,James W. Williams, Jr. and Neal E. Willis [57] ABSTRACT A heat exchangerfor a product fluid comprises a rotor and a shell, one of which rotates.The rotor comprises a hollow shaft and hollow disk-like members attachedto and communicating with the shaft which members and shaft form atortuous conduit for a heat transfer fluid. The hollow disk-like membersare not flat but have their central openings which attach to the shaftdisplaced above their distal edges. Similarly shaped disklike partitionsattached to the shell by support means and interleaved with the hollowdisk-like members form together with the shell, rotor shaft, and hollowdisk-like members a second tortuous conduit for a product fluid whichproduct fluid is separated from the heat transfer fluid by the heatconductive walls of the rotor shaft and hollow disk-like members. Theheat exchanger is particularly useful for conducting a reaction of ahigh viscosity liquid under closely controlled temperature conditionsand continuous agitation.

5 Claims, 17 Drawing Figures Patented March 21, 1972 3 Sheets-Sheet 1PIC-3.2 /0 5 33 INVENTOR GEORGE BOQN I AGENT Patented March 21, 19723,650,319

3 Sheets-Sheet 2 j INVENTOR GEORGE B. BOON Patented March 21, 1972 I3,650,319

3 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR GEORGE B. BOON BY Wm AGENT HEAT EXCHANGEDEVICE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to animprovement in heat transfer and particularly to a device which isuseful in the heating and cooling of fluids as well as maintaining thetemperature of a fluid within close tolerances. More particularly itrelates to a device which is useful in the heating and cooling ofviscous liquids.

Although the heat exchange art is an old one, known devices andprocesses are not suited to many exchange problems. In the operation ofmany industrial processes there is a need to maintain or change thetemperature of a fluid under closely controlled conditions andcontinuous agitation. Such a need is most apparent, particularly, wherethe fluid is a high viscosity liquid with a low heattransfercoefficient. This is also true where a reaction must be conducted with ahigh viscosity liquid having a low heat transfer coefficient undercarefully controlled temperatures and a high level of agitation. Thisneed for efficient heat transfer and a high level of agitation is notmet by presently available devices. To fulfill this need, a novelapproach is needed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The heat exchanger of this invention comprisessupport means, drive means, structural elements comprising a shellhaving an opening and a removable end portion and a hollow rotor shaftinsertable within the shell and, when in place within the shell,extending beyond the shell through an opening in the shell concentric tothe vertical axis of the shell, and flow directing elements positionedwithin the shell between the rotor shaft and the shell comprising aplurality of hollow disklike members connected to the rotor shaft and aplurality of disklike partitions comprising a plurality of sections, andpartition support means which connects the partitions to the shell andholds them in interleaved spaced relation to the hollow disklikemembers. Both the hollow disklike members and the disklike partitionshave a central opening, a distal edge and a surface extending from thecentral opening to the distal edge. The plane of the central opening isdisplaced from but substantially parallel to the plane of the distaledge. When in place within the shell the plane of the central opening isabove the plane of the distal edge and both planes are substantiallyperpendicular to the vertical axis of the shell. The hollow disklikemembers have a top portion, a bottom portion, a distal edge portionconnecting the distal edges of the top and bottom portions and at leastone substantially radial baffle for directing flow of a heat transferfluid within the hollow member. The hollow rotor shaft has an inlet, anoutlet and openings communicating with the hollow members whereby atortuous conduit is formed within the hollow rotor shaft and the hollowmembers for the passage of a heat transfer fluid. The hollow members andthe rotor shaft, the partitions and the shell form a second tortuousconduit for the passage of a product fluid which exchanges heat throughheat conductive surfaces of the rotor shaft and hollow disklike memberswith the heat transfer fluid. A support means is connected to, andsupports, a structural element. A drive means is connected to, andimparts rotational motion about the vertical axis of the heat exchangerto, one of the structural elements. The rotational motion agitates theproduct fluid while it exchanges heat with the heat transfer fluid.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a transverse verticalsectional view of an embodiment of a heat exchanger of this invention.

FIG. 2 is a transverse vertical sectional view of another embodiment ofa heat exchanger of this invention.

FIG. 3 is a transverse, vertical sectional view of a rotor used in aheat exchanger of this invention.

FIG. 4 is a partial transverse vertical sectional view of an embodimentof a heat exchanger of this invention.

FIG. 5 is a partial transverse vertical sectional view of an embodimentof a heat exchanger of this invention.

FIG. 6 is a transverse horizontal sectional view at 6-6 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 7 is a partial transverse vertical sectional view of a rotor usedin a heat exchanger of this invention.

FIG. 8 is a transverse horizontal sectional view at 8-8 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 9 is a partial isometric view of the distal edge portion, topportion, and a full battle of a hollow disklike member attached to arotor shaft.

FIG. 9a is a plan view of a slotted bottom portion of hollow disklikemember before assembly.

FIG. 10 is a transverse vertical sectional view of a heat exchanger ofthis invention without the rotor in place.

FIG. 11 is a schematic horizontal view of the top surface of a hollowdisklike member attached to a rotor shaft.

FIG. 12 is a schematic horizontal view of the bottom surface of a hollowdisklike member attached to a rotor shaft.

FIG. 13 is a plan view of a disklike partition having two sections ofsubstantially the same size.

FIG. 14 is a plan view of a disklike partition having a plurality ofsector-shaped sections.

FIGS. 15 and 16 are plan views of disklike partitions having a pluralityof various-shaped portions.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION The heat exchanger of this invention is designed toprovide a highly efficient transfer of heat from a heat transfer fluidto a product fluid, which fluids are separated from each other by a heatconductive'wall. More particularly the heat exchanger provides forefficient exchange of heat between a heat transfer fluid and a highviscosity product fluid under conditions of continuous agitation. Theheat exchanger can be used to raise the temperature of the productfluid, lower the temperature of the product fluid, or maintain thetemperature of the product fluid within close tolerances while theproduct fluid is within the shell of the heat exchanger. The uniformclose control of temperature of the product fluid within the heatexchanger makes the heat exchanger well-suited for the conduct ofchemical reactions of fluids requiring constant agitation and closetemperature control by the withdrawal or addition of heat over anextended period of time. The heat exchanger may be utilized at, above,or below normal atmospheric pressure although in most cases the vesselis utilized at above normal atmospheric pressure. Likewise, the heatexchanger may be utilized at, above, or below normal ambienttemperatures. Where the temperature of the heat exchanger issubstantially above or substantially below normal ambient temperaturesit may be desirable to insulate the outer surface of the heat exchangerin order to reduce heat transfer with the atmosphere. In the drawings,FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate two alternate embodiments of the heat exchangerof this invention. FIG. 1 represents a heat exchanger in which the shell1 is stationary and the rotor 2 rotates about the vertical axis of theheat exchanger. The shell of the heat exchanger may be of any suitableor desired material, type, construction, dimension or configuration.Generally an arcuate shape symmetrical about the vertical axis is apreferred shape for the shell. In a more preferred embodiment the shellis substantially in the shape of a vertical cylinder as illustrated inthe drawings. The shell I and the rotor shaft 3 comprise the structuralelements of the heat exchanger. Support means (not shown) is connectedto at least one of the structural elements of the heat exchanger to holdthe heat exchanger in place. Drive means (not shown) is connected to astructural element and imparts to the structural element rotationalmotion about the vertical axis of the heat exchanger. In the heatexchanger illustrated in FIG. 1 the drive means is connected to therotor shaft 3 imparting to the rotor rotational motion about thevertical axis of the heat exchanger while the shell 1 remainsstationary. In the heat exchanger of FIG. 2 the drive means is connectedto the shell 1 imparting to the shell rotational motion about thevertical axis of the heat exchanger while the rotor 2 remains stationa-The rotor 2 may be of any suitable or desired material and comprises ahollow rotor shaft 3 and hollow disklike members 4 attached to thehollow rotor shaft. The hollow disklike members may be welded to therotor shaft or attached by any other suitable method which forms aleak-proof seal between the member and the rotor shaft. An inlet 5 inthe rotor shaft per mits entry of a heat transfer fluid into the hollowshaft. Any suitable heat transfer fluid may be used. Selection of theproper fluid will depend on the desired temperature range in which theheat transfer is to take place, economics, desired level of heatcapacity of the fluid and other factors of importance in the givensituation. Openings 7 in the rotor shaft 3 communicating with the hollowdisklike members 4 allow entry of the heat transfer fluid from thehollow rotor shaft into each hollow disklike member. Openings 9 in therotor shaft 3 communicating with the hollow disklike members 4 allowreentry of the heat transfer fluid from the hollow disklike members tothe hollow rotor shaft. The heat transfer fluid leaves the rotor shaft 3through outlet 10.

The hollow rotor shaft 3 may have, as shown in FIG. 3, a single cavityhaving a plurality of plugs 11 at spaced intervals within the cavitywhich plugs stop the flow of fluid within the hollow rotor shaft andredirect the flow of fluid through openings 7 into the attached hollowdisklike members 4 attached to the rotor shaft 3 and thence throughopenings 9 back into the rotor shaft 3 and thence through openings 9back into the rotor shaft on the downstream side of the plug thuscausing the fluid to flow in a tortuous path alternating through asection of the cavity of the hollow rotor and each disklike memberattached to the rotor shaft or may have, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, adouble cavity consisting of a central bore 12 and a concentric annularpassage-way 13 which results in a parallel-type flow as contrasted tothe series-type flow in the rotor illustrated in FIG. 3 and describedabove. The central bore 12 may be connected to the inlet 5 and theannular passage-way to the outlet as shown in FIG. 1. When connected inthis manner openings 7 in the central bore 12 communicating through theannular passageway 13 between the bore 12 and the hollow disklikemembers 4 permit the heat transfer fluid to enter each disklike memberfrom the bore and openings 9 in the annular passageway 13 communicatingwith the hollow disklike members 4 permit the heat transfer fluid toleave each disklike member and proceed to the outlet 10 through theannular passage-way 13. When connected in the manner illustrated in FIG.2, the annular passage-way 13 is connected to the inlet 5 and the bore12 to the outlet 10 which causes the heat transfer fluid to enter thehollow disklike members through openings 7' and to leave the hollowdisklike members through openings 9. In certain uses of the device ofthis invention it may be preferred to use more than one heat transferfluid and maintain different heat transfer levels in different portionsof the rotor and the related hollow disklike members by applying knowntechniques to the present device. Such alternative methods of operationare within the scope of this invention.

A key innovation in the heat exchanger of this invention is thesuprising improvement in strength of the hollow disklike members 4 ofthis invention as compared to known flat or planar-surfaced hollow diskmembers having similar dimension components. If not all the increasedstrength is needed in the present members, the unique design of thepresent hollow disklike members will result in more efficient transferof heat between the heat transfer fluid and the product fluid sincethinner walls can be utilized in the present disklike members because oftheir greater strength from improved design. Two factors result in thisincreased strength, first of all, the shape of the hollow members and,second, the use of a substantially radial flow directing baffle which aswell as directing fluid flow within the hollow member also stiffens themember. The improved strength and stiffness of the present hollowdisklike members are particularly important when the product fluid is ahigh viscosity liquid.

Referring to FIGS. 4 through 7, the hollow disklike members of the heatexchangers of this invention comprise a top portion 14, a bottom portion15, both of which portions have a central opening 16, a distal edge 17and a surface 18 extending from the central opening 16 to the distaledge 17 and a distal edge portion 19 which distal edge portion connectsthe distal edge 17 of the top portion 14 and the distal edge 17 of thebottom portion 15. The distance between the'top portion and the bottomportion are substantially the same when measured from any point oneither surface. The plane of the central opening and the plane of thedistal edge of both the top portion and bottom portion are substantiallyparallel but the central opening plane is displaced from the distal edgeplane. When the rotor is in place within the shell, the plane of thecentral opening is above the plane of the distal edge. The surface 18 ofthe top and bottom portions extending from the central opening to thedistal edge may be an arcuate surface (as in FIGS. 1 to 3), a conicsection (as in FIG. 4), a combination of a conic section and an arcuatesurface (as in FIG. 5) or a section of a sphere (as in FIG. 5) or asection of a sphere (as in FIG. 7). In a preferred embodiment where thesurface 18 is a spheriodal section, the radius of curvature of thesection of the sphere is from about 0.7 to about 2 times the diameter ofthe shell. The distal edge portion 19 is preferably in the shape of asection of a cylinder described as the section between 2 planesperpendicular to the axis of the cylinder and separated by the distancebetween the top portion 14 and the bottom portion 15 of the hollowdisklike member 4.

Communicating with the hollow disklike members 4 are inlet 7 and outlet9 openings in the rotor shaft 3. The placement of the openings is notcritical so long as the flow of the heat transfer fluid may be directedthroughout the interior of the hollow disklike members 4 by asubstantially radial flow directing baffle. When the openings 7 and 9 inthe rotor shaft are adjacent to each other as shown in FIG. 6, a fullbaffle 20 separates the openings and extends from the central opening 16to the distal edge 17 of the top portion 14 and the bottom portion 15 ofthe hollow disklike members 4 and forms a leakproof seal with saidportions, the distal edge portion 19 and the rotor shaft 3 to direct theflow of the heat transfer fluid in cooperation with central partialbaffles 21 and distal partial baffles 22 in a tortuous path from theinlet 7 through the hollow disklike member 4 to the outlet 9 asillustrated by FIG. 6. Where the inlet opening 7 and the outlet opening9 are substantially diametrically opposite as illustrated in FIG. 3, abaffle arrangement as shown in FIG. 8 may be utilized to direct the flowof the heat transfer fluid. In this embodiment full baffles 20substantially bisect the inlet 7 and the outlet 9 causing the heattransfer fluid to flow in 2 separate tortuous paths guided by centralpartial baffles 21 and distal partial baffles 22.

When a heat transfer fluid is forced to flow in a tortuous path as inthe present invention, venting of air or other gases from the equipmentto eliminate any entrapped gas can be a problem. An embodiment of thisinvention as illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 3 where the outlet 10 for theheat transfer fluid is located at the top of the rotor 2 eliminates theventing problem by making the rotor self-venting. In this embodiment asshown in FIG. 7 the top 23 of each outlet opening 9 in the rotor shaft 3is aligned with the lower surface 24 of the top portion 14 of the hollowdisklike members 4. Additionally each central partial baffle 21 has anotch or opening 25, the perimeter of said notch or opening beingdescribed by the rotor shaft 3 lower surface 24 of the top portion 14 ofthe hollow disklike members 4 and the notched out edge of the centralpartial baffle 21. These partial baffle notches and the alignment of theoutlets with the top portion of the hollow disklike members allow anyair or other gas within the rotor to flow freely from the rotor when therotor is being filled with heat transfer fluid.

In a typical fabrication of the rotor the top portion 14 of the hollowdisklike member 4 is welded to the distal edge portion 19, the fullbaffle is aligned with the central opening 16 and welded to thedistaledge portion 19 and the top portion 14, the central partial baffles21are notched, aligned with the central opening 16 and welded to the topportion substantially radially in spaced arrangement around the centralopening. As shown in FIG. 9a-a long narrow opening or slot 26 isprovided in the bottom portion 15 which slot is of sufficient width andproceeds substantially radially from the central opening toward thedistal edge to a sufficient distance so as to be capable of receiving anextended portion 27 of the full baffle 20 which full baffle has beenpreviously attached to the top portion 14 and the distal edge portion19. At spaced intervals on the upper surface of the bottom portion 15oriented radially near the distal edge of the bottom portion 15, thedistal partial baffles 22 are affixed. The distal edge 22' of the distalpartial baffle 22 is spaced away from the distal edge 17 of the bottomportion 15 by a distance sufficient to accommodate the distal edgeportion 19.

The rotor shaft 3 is inserted through the central opening 16 of the topportion 14 of the hollow disklike member 4. After aligning the top 23 ofthe outlet hole 9 of the rotor shaft 3 with the lower surface 24 of thetop portion 14 of the hollow disklike member 4 and properly positioningthe full baffle 20 in appropriate spaced relation to the inlet opening 7and outlet opening 9, the top portion 14 is welded or affixed in anysuitable manner to the rotor shaft 3 to form a leak-proof seal. Likewisethe full baffle 20 and central partial baffles 19 are affixed to therotor shaft 3 taking care to maintain open and clear the notch oropening 25 between the central partial baffle 21 the rotor shaft 3 andthe top portion 14. Similarly the rotor shaft 3 is inserted through thecentral opening 16 of the bottom portion 15 of the hollow disklikemembers 4 and the bottom portion 15 is carefully placed against thedistal edge portion 19 so that the partial distal baffles 22 arereceived within the distal edge portion 19 and the slot 26 receives andaccommodates the extended portion 27 of full baffle 20. The extendedportion 27 of full baffle 20 is welded to the bottom portion 15 by aslot welding technique. The bottom portion 14 is welded or affixed inany suitable manner to the distal edge portion 19 and to the rotor shaft3 to form a leak-proof seal.

For maximum strength it may be desirable to weld or affix by othersuitable methods all baffles to both the top and bottom portions of thehollow disklike members. Among the known ways which could be used is touse baffles having a cross section shaped like a T or an L, affix allthe baffles by their narrow leg to the top portion of the hollowdisklike members, prepare slots in the bottom portion in alignment withthe baffles affixed to the top portion and weld the base of the L or theinverted T to the bottom portion by known slot welding techniques.

Coating with the rotor shaft 3, hollow disklike members 4 and the shell1 to form a second tortuous path through which the product fluid flowsare disklike partitions 28. The disklike partitions 28 have a centralopening 29, a distal edge 30 and a surface 31 extending from the centralopening 29 to the distal edge 30. The plane of the central opening isdisplaced from the plane of the distal edge but, both planes aresubstantially parallel to each other. When the disklike partitions areinstalled within the shell 1 the plane of the central opening 29 isabove the plane of the distal edge 30 and both planes are substantiallyperpendicular to the vertical axis of the shell. The surface 31 of thedisklike partitions 28 from the central opening 29 to the distal edge 30may be an arcuate surface (as in FIGS. 1 and 2), a conic section (as inFIG. 4), a combination of a conic section and an arcuate surface (as inFIG. 5) or a section of a sphere (as in FIG. Generally the surfaces 31of the disklike partitions 28 are substantially similar in shape to thesurfaces 18 of the hollow disklike members 4 with which members thepartitions are interleaved. In a preferred embodiment where the surface31 is a spheroidal section the radius of curvature of the section of thesphere is from about 0.7 to about 2 times the diameter of the shell.

The disklike partitions are held in place by support means 32. For bestresults it is desirable that the disklike partitions when installedwithin the shell, be positioned at the midpoint of the space betweensuccessive hollow disklike members 4 affixed to the rotor shaft 3.Preferably, the distance from the central opening 29 of the disklikepartition 28 to the rotor shaft 3 is substantially the same as, orgreater than, the distance from the disklike partition 28 to the bottomportion 15 of the hollow disklike member 4 or the distance from thedisklike partition 28 to the top portion 14 of the hollow dis: klikemember 4. The distance from the distal edge portion 19 of the hollowdisklike member 4 and the shell 1 is, at least, sufficient toaccommodate the support means 32 for the disklike partitions 28 and,preferably, substantially equal to or greater than the distance from thedisklikepartition 28 to the bottom portion 15 of the hollow disklikemember 4 or the distance from the disklike partition 28 to the topportion 14 of the hollow disklike member 4.

The diameter of the distal edge 30 of the disklike partitions 28 is ofsuch size that, when the plane of the distal edge 30 is perpendicular tothe vertical axis of the shell, the distal edge 30 will fit within theshell 1 and, preferably, when oriented in this same manner, can be heldin place by the support means 32 so that, at most, only a very smallportion of the product fluid will pass between the distal edge 30 andthe shell 1. Thus, when the product fluid enters through the bottom ofthe shell and leaves through the top of the shell the disklikepartitions direct the flow of the product fluid toward the rotor shaftin that portion of the tortuous path between the disklike partition 28and the top portion 14 of the hollow disklike members 4 and then towardthe shell 1 in that portion of the tortuous path between the disklikepartition 28 and the bottom portion 15 of the hollow disklike members 4.When the product fluid enters the top of the shell and leaves the bottomof the shell, the product fluid would flow toward the shell 1 whenbetween the disklike partition 28 and the top portion 14 of the hollowdisklike member 4 and toward the rotor shaft 3 when between the disklikepartition 28 and the bottom portion 15 of the ho]- low disklike member4. An opening 33 in the top portion 34 of the shell 1 and an opening 35in the bottom portion 36 of the shell 1 provide for the product fluid toenter and to exit the heat exchanger. It is preferred to have theproduct fluid enter the heat exchanger through opening 35 and exitthrough opening 33.

In a preferred embodiment in order to facilitate the movement of theproduct fluid alternately toward the rotor shaft and away from the rotorshaft arcuate shaped flights may be provided to urge the product fluidin the desired direction. Where slower flow through the heat exchangerand greater mixing of the product fluid is desired the flights may beoriented to urge the product fluid in a direction opposed to the desireddirection of flow. Where only greater turbulence is desired the flightsmay be radial in orientation and thus have a neutral effect on productfluid flow. FIG. 11 shows an arrangement of flights 37 located on thetop portion 14 of a hollow disklike member 4 attached to a rotor shaft 3rotating in the direction of the arrow 38, which flights urge theproduct fluid toward the rotor shaft 3. FIG. 12 shows an arrangement offlights 37 located on the bottom portion 15 of a hollow disklike member4 attached to a rotor shaft 3 rotating in the direction of the arrow 38which flights urge the product fluid away from the rotor shaft 3. Wherethe shell rotates rather than the rotor such flights may be on thedisklike partitions 28 connected by support means 32 to the shell 1instead of on hollow disklike members 4 connected to the rotor shaft 3.

Any suitable support means may be used to hold the disklike partitionsin place and connect the partitions to the shell of the heat exchanger.FIGS. 1, 2 and 10 illustrate one of many suitable support means.Reference to FIG. 10 will show the elements of the support means mostclearly. The illustrated support means comprises a plurality of rods 40connected to a flat ring 41 and insertable in receiving sockets 42connected to the top portion 34 of the shell 1. The bottom portion 36 ofthe shell 1 is removable from the shell 1 and is connected to the shell1 by flange means 43. The flange means 43 accommodates the flat ring 41and holds the flat ring 41 rigidly in place forming a leak-proof sealbetween the shell 1 and the ring 41 and between the removable bottomportion 36 of the shell 1 and the ring 41. In some embodiments of thisinvention it may be preferable to have the top portion 34 of the shell 1be removable and in other embodiments of this invention it may bepreferable to have both the top portion 34 and the bottom portion 36 beremovable from the shell 1. The plurality of rods40 are inserted throughopenings 44 in the disklike partitions 28 near the distal edge 30 of thedisklike partitions 28 and the disklike partitions 28 are affixed to therods 40 by welding or other suitable means at spaced intervals along therods 40 so that the plane of the distal edge 30 is substantiallyperpendicular to the rods 40 and the distance between the disklikepartitions 28 is sufficient to accommodate the hollow disklike members 4attached to the rotor shaft 3 and allow flow of the product fluidbetween the partition 29 and the hollow member 4. The rods 40 are theninserted in openings 45 in the flat ring 41 and fastened to the ring 41by removable fastening means. The assembled disklike partitions 28 andpartition support means 32 are then inserted into the shell 1 with thebottom portion 36 removed. The ends 46 of the rods are inserted intoreceiving sockets 42 and the flat ring 41 is seated against the shell 1.The bottom portion 36 is then secured in place against the ring 41 byflange means 43 to form a leak-proof seal and to affix the partitionsupport means to the shell. It is to be noted that the above describedprocedure emplaces the partitions and the partition support means withinthe shell but does not describe emplacement of the rotor. In order toaccommodate the rotor, the partitions and partition support means areassembled around the rotor before insertion of the entire assembly intothe shell. To enable the assembly of the partitions around the rotorshaft and between hollow disklike members attached to the rotor shaft,the disklike partitions are in sections. The partitions have at leasttwo sections. The size and number of sections will depend on theclearances between adjacent hollow disklike members, the extent ofcurvature of such members and the partitions and other considerations.The shape of the sections is not critical so long as when the sectionsare assembled with and connected to the partition support means withinthe shell of the heat exchanger, the sections form a strong unitarydisklike partition. The sections, after assembly around the rotor shaft,may be permanently fastened together by welding or other suitable meansor fastened together by bolts, clamps or other means to facilitatedisassembly for maintenance or not fastened together at all, withadjacent edges of sections forming a butt joint or possibly atongue-and-groove-type joint. A disklike partition may comprise twosections of substantially equal size, as in FIG. 13, a plurality ofsegments, as in FIG. 14, a plurality of sectors, as in FIG. 15, or avariety of shaped portions, as in FIG. 16.

When the shell 1 of the heat exchanger is stationary, as shown in FIG.1, placement of openings 35 and 33 is not critical. However, when theshell 1 of the heat exchanger rotates, openings 35 and 33 must beconcentric and generally are annular openings about the rotor shaft 3.Packing and sealing of all rotary joints and fittings for the heatexchanger of this invention may be accomplished by techniques known tothose skilled in the art and are not a novel part of this invention.

The foregoing description of the invention is explanatory thereof andvarious changes in the size, shape and materials, as well as in thedetails of the illustrated construction may be made within the scope ofthe appended claims, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

I claim:

1. A heat exchanger comprising structural elements comprising a shellhaving an opening and a removable end portion and a hollow rotor shaftinsertable within the shell and, when positioned within said shell,extending beyond the shell through an opening in the shell concentric tothe vertical axis of the shell;

support means being connected to, and supporting a structural element;flow directing elements insertable in said shell and positioned withinsaid shell between the rotor shaft and the shell comprising: I

a plurality of hollow disklike members connected to the rotor shaft,

a plurality of disklike partitions comprising a plurality of sections,and

partition support means which means connects said partitions to saidshell and holds said partitions in interleaved spaced relation to saidhollow disklikemembers,

said hollow disklike members and said disklike partitions each having acentral opening, a distal edge and a surface extending from said centralopening to said distal edge, the plane of which central opening beingdisplaced from, but substantially parallel to, the plane of said distaledge and, when in place within the shell, said plane of said centralopening being above said plane of said distal edge, both of said planesbeing substantially perpendicular to said vertical axis of said shell,

said hollow disklike members having a top portion,

a bottom portion,

a distal edge portion connecting said top portion and said bottomportion at the distal edge of a said hollow disklike member, and

at least one substantially radial bafile for directing flow of a heattransfer fluid within a said hollow disklike member and coacting withsaid hollow rotor shaft which hollow rotor shaft has an inlet openingand an outlet opening communicating with said hollow disklike memberswhereby said hollow rotor shaft, said hollow rotor shaft openings andsaid hollow disklike members form a tortuous conduit for the passage ofa heat transfer fluid, said hollow disklike members and said hollowrotor shaft forming a heat conductive surface and together with saiddisklike partitions and said shell forming a second tortuous conduit forthe passage of a product fluid whereby said product fluid exchanges heatwith said heat transfer fluid through the heat conductive surface ofsaid rotor shaft and said hollow disklike members; and one of saidstructural elements being adapted to suitable means to impart theretorotational motion about the vertical axis of the shell so that theproduct fluid is subjected to agitation while exchanging heat with theheat transfer fluid. 2. The heat exchanger of claim 1 wherein suitablemeans is adapted for connection to said rotor shaft and imparts theretorotational motion about the vertical axis of the shell and the supportmeans is connected to and supports the shell.

3. The heat exchanger of claim 1 wherein the shell is a verticalcylinder.

4. The heat exchanger of claim 1 wherein the surface of the disklikehollow members and the disklike partitions extending from the centralopening to the distal edge is a conic section.

5. The heat exchanger of claim 1 wherein the surface of the disklikehollow members and the disklike partitions extending from the centralopening to the distal edge is a section of a sphere.

1. A heat exchanger comprising structural elements comprising a shellhaving an opening and a removable end portion and a hollow rotor shaftinsertable within the shell and, when positioned within said shell,extending beyond the shell through an opening in the shell concentric tothe vertical axis of the shell; support means being connected to, andsupporting a structural element; flow directing elements insertable insaid shell and positioned within said shell between the rotor shaft andthe shell comprising: a plurality of hollow disklike members connectedto the rotor shaft, a plurality of disklike partitions comprising aplurality of sections, and partition support means which means connectssaid partitions to said shell and holds said partitions in interleavedspaced relation to said hollow disklike members, said hollow disklikemembers and said disklike partitiOns each having a central opening, adistal edge and a surface extending from said central opening to saiddistal edge, the plane of which central opening being displaced from,but substantially parallel to, the plane of said distal edge and, whenin place within the shell, said plane of said central opening beingabove said plane of said distal edge, both of said planes beingsubstantially perpendicular to said vertical axis of said shell, saidhollow disklike members having a top portion, a bottom portion, a distaledge portion connecting said top portion and said bottom portion at thedistal edge of a said hollow disklike member, and at least onesubstantially radial baffle for directing flow of a heat transfer fluidwithin a said hollow disklike member and coacting with said hollow rotorshaft which hollow rotor shaft has an inlet opening and an outletopening communicating with said hollow disklike members whereby saidhollow rotor shaft, said hollow rotor shaft openings and said hollowdisklike members form a tortuous conduit for the passage of a heattransfer fluid, said hollow disklike members and said hollow rotor shaftforming a heat conductive surface and together with said disklikepartitions and said shell forming a second tortuous conduit for thepassage of a product fluid whereby said product fluid exchanges heatwith said heat transfer fluid through the heat conductive surface ofsaid rotor shaft and said hollow disklike members; and one of saidstructural elements being adapted to suitable means to impart theretorotational motion about the vertical axis of the shell so that theproduct fluid is subjected to agitation while exchanging heat with theheat transfer fluid.
 2. The heat exchanger of claim 1 wherein suitablemeans is adapted for connection to said rotor shaft and imparts theretorotational motion about the vertical axis of the shell and the supportmeans is connected to and supports the shell.
 3. The heat exchanger ofclaim 1 wherein the shell is a vertical cylinder.
 4. The heat exchangerof claim 1 wherein the surface of the disklike hollow members and thedisklike partitions extending from the central opening to the distaledge is a conic section.
 5. The heat exchanger of claim 1 wherein thesurface of the disklike hollow members and the disklike partitionsextending from the central opening to the distal edge is a section of asphere.